SOUTHERN SECTION BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIPS : Chansawangpuvana, Poyyak Win Titles

Katella’s Ying Chansawangpuvana and Corona del Mar’s Jerome Poyyak won the Southern Section singles badminton titles, as expected, Saturday at Cypress College.

Chansawangpuvana, top-seeded in girls’ singles, swept Garden Grove’s Judy Pak, 11-3, 12-9, in the title match. Pak, last year’s Orange County player of the year, was no match for Chansawangpuvana, who was undefeated.

“It was a tense game for me,” Chansawangpuvana said. “Since it is my last year, this was very important to me. But now I hope to make it to the Olympics.”

Chansawangpuvana gave up only seven points in three matches through the semifinals, where she defeated Alta Loma’s Marleyn Rompis, 11-0, 11-0.

In boys’ singles, Poyyak, seeded No. 1, defeated second-seeded Ed Soetanto of Katella in three games.

Poyyak, the county’s top player last year, down, 12-7, in the first game, rallied to win, 18-13. Soetanto followed suit in the second game, battling back from an 11-6 deficit to win, 15-11.

With the crowd on Soetanto’s side, Poyyak took control of the third game, 15-4.

“It’s really hard when everyone is cheering for the other person,” said Poyyak, who will give up badminton to join the Marines after graduation. “I just tried to slow it down. And I wanted it more.”

In mixed doubles, fourth-seeded Pak and David Nguyen upset top-seeded Soetanto and Chansawangpuvana in the semifinals, 5-15, 15-11, 15-9, before losing to Alhambra Keppel’s Sandy Tirtadjaja and Annie Tran, 15-11, 15-2, in the championship match.

Nguyen, bothered by leg cramps in the second game, took a 10-minute time out, but the cramps returned and Nguyen and Pak all but conceded the match.

In girls’ doubles, Kameron Schambeck and Deidre Vivanco of La Habra had an impressive senior season after taking off a season. Advancing to the championship match seeded No. 1, they were upset by third-seed Rowland Heights Rowland’s Diana Lan and Chi Chou, 18-17, 15-11.

Top-seeded Nguyen and Young Cu teamed in boys’ doubles for Garden Grove and advanced to the finals, where they faced third-seeded Qui Nguy and Jacky Wu of Keppel.

Nguyen and Cu won the first game, 15-13, but lost the final two, 15-5, 15-8.